The present invention relates to non-invasive cardiac pacing, and is particularly directed to a method and device for transmitting electrical stimulation pulses to a heart ventricle, and monitoring cardiac function, by insertion of electrodes via the patient's esophagus, thereby avoiding the need for any surgical intervention.
It is already known in the art that atrial cardiac pacing can be performed by a procedure known as transesophageal pacing, in which one or more electrodes are introduced into a patient's esophagus to bring the electrodes to a point in the esophagus which is directly adjacent to the left atrium of the heart. A device of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,688.
When electrodes are brought to such a position and are pressed against the wall of the esophagus, cardiac stimulation pulses can be applied to the heart atrium. When a condition requiring atrial pacing is encountered, this technique can prove advantageous since it allows pacing to be initiated rather quickly without requiring surgical intervention and the trauma associated therewith.
However, while there are certain situations in which ventricular pacing is indicated, there are no existing devices or procedures which allow ventricular pacing to be achieved safely in a manner similar to the transesophageal pacing technique described above.